


Terrible Ideas

by LeChatRouge673



Series: Cat's Song [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 01:11:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15232083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeChatRouge673/pseuds/LeChatRouge673
Summary: Prompted by @missragdoll84.





	Terrible Ideas

Theadosia looked, if not quite miserable, certainly not like someone who was celebrating her birthday. The party had been her cousin’s idea, not Theadosia’s, and despite the small smile that had remained steadfastly on her face the entire evening, Loghain knew better. She was unhappy.

And he knew he was making it worse.

He had shown up, just as he had promised he would, even though he was no more comfortable than she was. He had shown up, and then promptly spent the evening trying not to end up within three feet of the woman, because doing so would mean acknowledging the thoughts and feelings that had kept him awake all night; that would keep needling at him until he finally did something about them. But tonight was not the time, nor the place. Theadosia had enough to deal with, trying to weave her way between guests and not panic at the sheer number of people that were in her apartment. Loghain wondered how many of them she actually knew, and how many were friends or acquaintances of Cataline or of Bryce and Eleanor.

Either way, he knew this was not what she wanted.

* * *

_Two Days Earlier_

_“I could just stay in Rivain a few extra days,” Theadosia mused on the other end of the line. “Say I got held up by business…”_

_“You could,” Loghain agreed, “But you won’t, and we both know it.” He heard her exhale heavily; could practically see her rolling her storm blue eyes._

_“Of course not. Cat has put too much effort into this absurd exercise for me to blow it off. Besides, I miss my friends, and I miss my cats.”_

_“I am sure they miss you as well.” He paused, then added, “I have missed you.”_

_“I’ve missed you too,” she replied, her voice softer than most people would ever hear it. “Arguing with the people here is no fun: they simply yell louder rather than putting any effort into it.”_

_“Well I’m sorry to hear your talent is being wasted,” he smiled slightly. “I will try to think of something suitably egregious to catch your ire when you come home. I would hate for that wit of yours to grow dull.”_

_“I doubt there is any fear of that,” she laughed, “At least not while I have you to keep me on my toes. Perhaps if we are animated enough we can shut the party down early and I can do what I really wanted to do: sit back with a drink and you and I can take turns complaining about work.”_

_Loghain hesitated, stopping himself from saying words he was not certain he needed to be saying. It had been difficult, having her away in Rivain. He had tried to convince himself it was only her friendship that he missed, but the long nights he had lain awake thinking of her was making it glaringly obvious that things were getting more complicated than that. And he did not need complicated right now._

_“Well I suspect you will be able to drink either way, at least,” he offered finally, after a pause that he knew went on too long. He understood why Theadosia was acceding to Cat’s wishes: probably understood better than most the familial loyalty she was bound to._

_“Just promise you’ll be there, Loghain?” She spoke softly. “I need someone to sit in the corner with me and be snarky.”_

_“Of course, Theadosia.”_

* * *

She had caught his eye when he had walked in; had actually smiled a _real_ smile. But he had not gone to her. Instead, he had stayed close to Anora, avoiding his friend, trying not to meet her eyes and the slowly increasing hurt he knew he would see there. At his side, Anora was growing irritable. Finally, as the guests were beginning to leave, she pulled him aside into the spare bedroom.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” She hissed angrily.

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“You are the _one_ person she actually wanted here, you know that?” Anora glared up at him, hands on her hips. “And you are avoiding her like she is diseased. I swear I see her heart fall a little more every single time you walk away from her.”

Loghain sighed. “Anora, it… it is complicated.”

“It’s really not,” she shot back. “Deal with this.” And before he could reply, she slipped back into the main room. Loghain sat on the edge of the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to make sense of the cacophony of thoughts in his head.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

Theadosia’s tone was listless and flat as she closed the door behind her, then stood in front of him with her arms crossed. “Is this because of what happened yesterday?”

Loghain shook his head. “No… yes. It is not just yesterday, Theadosia,” he finally met her eyes. “It has been months.”

She sat down beside him, putting more space between them than he wanted. “Loghain, I apologize. I thought…” he heard a slight quaver in her voice as she continued, “I thought you and I wanted the same thing. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable, or to ruin our friendship. I will be more mindful going forward.”

“Theadosia,” he whispered, “That is _not_ the problem.”

Theadosia looked up at him, confusion written in her eyes. “It isn’t?”

He reached out and took her hand in his. “Theadosia, everything about this, about what we want… it is a terrible idea.”

“Yes,” she agreed with a small laugh, moving closer to him. “It is. But it has not stopped me from wanting you.”

“We would have to keep it quiet.”

“We would,” Theadosia’s arm slipped around his waist as his wrapped around hers. He reached a hand up and brushed a lock of auburn hair away from her cheek.

“Theadosia, I do not want to lose what we have,” he pressed his forehead against hers. “You are the only person left I can truly call my friend, and I do not want to mar that friendship. We have to promise that we will end things before it goes too far; before we risk losing this.”

She was quiet for a long moment. Finally, she said, “Loghain, I promise that when you decide this needs to end, I will respect your decision.”

“You are so certain I will be the one to end it?”

Theadosia simply gave him a small smile. “Why don’t we cross that bridge when we come to it?”

Loghain nodded, tightening his arms around her waist. The room outside had gone quiet; the last of the guests gone for the evening. “Theadosia… it has been a very, _very_ long time.”

She gave a small hum of laughter. “Then we start at the beginning,” she murmured, her arms twining around his neck.

“And you kiss me.”


End file.
